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<h1>Question Marker</h1>

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<center><span class="summary">Outline</span></center>
<ol>
<li><a href="#part1">Questions in polite form</a></li>
<li><a href="#part2">The question marker in casual speech</a></li>
<li><a href="#part3">「か」 used in subordinate clauses</a></li>
<li><a href="#part4">Using question words</a></li>
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<h2 id="part1">Questions in polite form</h2>
The question marker is covered here because it is primarily used to clearly indicate a question in polite sentences.  While it is entirely possible to
express a question even in polite form using just intonation, the question marker is often attached to the very end of the sentence to indicate a
question.  The question marker is simply the hiragana character 「か」 and you don't need to add a question mark.  For
<a href="copula.html#part1">previously explained reasons</a>,
you must not use the declarative 「だ」 with the question marker.

<h3>Example 1</h3>
<span title="たなか - Tanaka" class="popup">田中</span>さん：　<span title="おかあさん - mother" class="popup">お母さん</span>は<span title="どこ - where" class="popup">どこ</span>です<em>か</em>。- Where is (your) mother?
<br /><span title="すずき - Suzuki" class="popup">鈴木</span>さん：　<span title="はは - mother" class="popup">母</span>は<span title="かいもの - shopping" class="popup">買い物</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行きました</span>。- (My) mother went shopping.

<h3>Example 2</h3>
キムさん：　<span title="イタリア - Italy" class="popup">イタリア</span><span title="りょうり - dish, cuisine" class="popup">料理</span>を<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べ</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行きません</span><em>か</em>。 - Go to eat Italian food?
<br />鈴木さん：　<span title="すみません - sorry" class="popup">すみません</span>。<span title="ちょっと - a little" class="popup">ちょっと</span>、<span title="おなか - stomach" class="popup">お腹</span>が<span title="いっぱい - full" class="popup">いっぱい</span>です。- Sorry.  (My) stomach is a little full.

<p>Here the question is actually being used as an invitation just like how in English we say, "Won't you come in for a drink?"
「<span title="すみません - sorry" class="popup">すみません</span>」 is a polite way of apologizing.  Slightly less formal is 「<span title="ごめんなさい - sorry" class="popup">ごめんなさい</span>」 while the casual version is simply 「<span title="ごめん - sorry" class="popup">ごめん</span>」.
</p>

<h2 id="part2">The question marker in casual speech</h2>
It makes sense to conclude that the question marker would work in exactly the same way in casual speech as it does in polite speech.  However, this is <b>not</b> the case.
The question marker 「か」 is usually not used with casual speech to make actual questions. It is often used to consider whether something is true or not.
Depending on the context and intonation, it can also be used to make rhetorical questions or to express sarcasm.
It can sound quite rough so you might want to be careful about using 「か」 for questions in the plain casual form.

<h3>Examples</h3>

<p>
（１）　<span title="こんな - this sort of" class="popup">こんな</span>のを<span title="ほんとう - really" class="popup">本当</span>に<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span><em>か</em>？
<br />- Do you think [he/she] will really eat this type of thing?
</p>

<p>
（２）　<span title="そんな - that sort of" class="popup">そんな</span>のは、<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span><em>か</em>よ！
<br />- Do I look like I would have something like that?!
</p>



Instead of 「か」, real questions in casual speech are usually asked with the <a href="particles3.html#part5">explanatory の particle</a>
or nothing at all except for a rise in intonation, as we have already seen in previous sections.

<p>
（１）　<span title="こんな - this sort of" class="popup">こんな</span>のを<span title="ほんとう - really" class="popup">本当</span>に<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span>？
<br />- Are you really going to eat something like this?
</p>

<p>
（２）　<span title="そんな - that sort of" class="popup">そんな</span>のは、<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span><em>の</em>？
<br />- Do you have something like that?
</p>


<h2 id="part3">「か」 used in subordinate clauses</h2>
Another use of the question marker is simply grammatical and has nothing to do with the politeness.  A question marker attached to the end of
a subordinate clause makes a mini-question inside a larger sentence.  This allows the speaker to talk about the question.  For example, you can talk about
the question, "What did I eat today?"  In the following examples, the question that is being considered is in red.

<p>（１）　<em><span title="きのう - yesterday" class="popup">昨日</span><span title="なに - what" class="popup">何</span>を<span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べた</span>か</em><span title="わすれる - to forget" class="popup">忘れた</span>。- Forgot what I ate yesterday.
<br />（２）　<span title="かれ - he" class="popup">彼</span>は<em><span title="なに - what" class="popup">何</span>を<span title="いう - to say" class="popup">言った</span>か</em><span title="わかる - to understand" class="popup">わからない</span>。- Don't understand what he said.
<br />（３）　<em><span title="せんせい - teacher" class="popup">先生</span>が<span title="がっこう - school" class="popup">学校</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行った</span>か</em><span title="おしえる - to teach" class="popup">教えない</span>？ - Won't you inform me whether teacher went to school?
</p>

<p>In sentences like （３） where the question being considered has a yes/no answer, it is common (but not necessary) to attach 「どうか」.
This is roughly equivalent to saying, "whether or not" in English.	You can also include the alternative as well to mean the same thing.
</p>
<p>
（１）　<span title="せんせい - teacher" class="popup">先生</span>が<span title="がっこう - school" class="popup">学校</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行った</span>か<em><span title="どう - how" class="popup">どう</span>か</em><span title="しる - to know" class="popup">知らない</span>。- Don't know whether or not teacher went to school.
<br />（２）　<span title="せんせい - teacher" class="popup">先生</span>が<span title="がっこう - school" class="popup">学校</span>に<span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行った</span>か<em><span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行かなかった</span>か</em><span title="しる - to know" class="popup">知らない</span>。- Don't know whether teacher went to school or didn't.
</p>

<a name="part4"></a>
<h2 id="part4">Using question words</h2>
While we're on the topic of questions, this is a good time to go over question words (where, who, what, etc.) and what they mean in various
contexts.  Take a look at what adding the question marker does to the meaning of the words.
<p />
<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Question Words</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Word+Question Marker</th><th>Meaning</th></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span><em>か</em></td><td>Someone</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="なに - what" class="popup">何</span><em>か</em></td><td>Something</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="いつ - when" class="popup">いつ</span><em>か</em></td><td>Sometime</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どこ - where" class="popup">どこ</span><em>か</em></td><td>Somewhere</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どれ - which" class="popup">どれ</span><em>か</em></td><td>A certain one from many</td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<br />
As you can see by the following examples, you can treat these words just like any regular nouns.
<p>（１）　<em><span title="だれか - someone" class="popup">誰か</span></em>が<span title="おいしい - delicious" class="popup">おいしい</span><span title="クッキー - cookie" class="popup">クッキー</span>を<span title="ぜんぶ - all" class="popup">全部</span><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べた</span>。- Someone ate all the delicious cookies.
<br />（２）　<span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span>が<span title="ぬすむ - to steal" class="popup">盗んだ</span>のか、<em><span title="だれか - someone" class="popup">誰か</span></em><span title="しる - to know" class="popup">知りません</span>か。- Does anybody know who stole it?
<br />（３）　<span title="はんにん - criminal" class="popup">犯人</span>を<em><span title="どこか - somewhere" class="popup">どこか</span></em>で<span title="みる - to see" class="popup">見ました</span>か。- Did you see the criminal somewhere?
<br />（４）　<span title="この - this" class="popup">この</span><span title="なか - inside" class="popup">中</span>から<em><span title="どれか - whichever (one from many)" class="popup">どれか</span></em>を<span title="えらぶ - to select" class="popup">選ぶ</span>の。- (Explaining) You are to select a certain one from inside this [selection].
</p>


<h3>Question words with inclusive meaning</h3>
The same question words in the chart above can be combined with 「も」 in a negative sentence to mean "nobody" （<span title="だれも - nobody" class="popup">誰も</span>）, "nothing" （<span title="なにも - nothing" class="popup">何も</span>）, "nowhere" （<span title="どこも - everywhere" class="popup">どこも</span>）, etc.

<p>「<span title="だれも - nobody" class="popup">誰も</span>」 and 「<span title="なにも - nothing" class="popup">何も</span>」 are primarily used only for negative sentences.
Curiously, there is no way to say "everybody", and "everything" with question words. Instead, it is conventional to use other words like
「<span title="みんな - everybody" class="popup">みんな</span>／<span title="みなさん - everybody" class="popup">みなさん</span>」、
「<span title="ぜんぶ - all" class="popup">全部</span>」.
</p>

<p>
The remaining three words  「<span title="いつも - always" class="popup">いつも</span>」 (meaning "always")
and 「<span title="どれも - any and all" class="popup">どれも</span>」 (meaning "any and all"), and 「<span title="どこも - everywhere" class="popup">どこも</span>」 (meaning everywhere)
can be used in both negative and positive sentences.
</p>

<br />

<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Inclusive Words</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Word+も</th><th>Meaning</th></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span><em>も</em></td><td>Nobody (negative only)</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="なに - what" class="popup">何</span><em>も</em></td><td>Nothing (negative only)</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="いつ - when" class="popup">いつ</span><em>も</em></td><td>Always</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どこ - where" class="popup">どこ</span><em>も</em></td><td>Everywhere</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どれ - which" class="popup">どれ</span><em>も</em></td><td>Any and all</td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p>
（１）　<span title="この - this" class="popup">この</span><span title="しつもん - question" class="popup">質問</span>の<span title="こたえ - answer" class="popup">答え</span>は、<em><span title="だれも - nobody" class="popup">誰も</span></em><span title="しる - to know" class="popup">知らない</span>。- Nobody knows the answer of this question.
<br />（２）　<span title="ともだち - friend" class="popup">友達</span>は<em><span title="いつも - always" class="popup">いつも</span></em><span title="おくれる - to be late" class="popup">遅れる</span>。 - Friend is always late.
<br />（３）　<span title="ここ - here" class="popup">ここ</span>に<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span><span title="レストラン - restaurant" class="popup">レストラン</span>は<em><span title="どれも - any and all" class="popup">どれも</span></em><span title="おいしい - tasty" class="popup">おいしくない</span> - Any and all restaurants that are here are not tasty.
<br />（４）　<span title="こんしゅうまつ - this weekend" class="popup">今週末</span>は、<em><span title="どこにも - nowhere" class="popup">どこにも</span></em><span title="いく - to go" class="popup">行かなかった</span>。- Went nowhere this weekend.
</p>
<p>
(Grammatically, this 「も」 is the same as the topic particle 「も」 so the target particle 「に」 must go before the topic particle 「も」 in ordering.)
</p>

<h3>Question words to mean "any"</h3>
The same question words combined with 「でも」 can be used to mean "any". One thing to be careful about is that
「<span title="なんでも - anything" class="popup">何でも</span>」 is read as 「なんでも」 and <i>not</i> 「なにでも」

<br />
<br />
<center>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Words for "Any"</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Word+でも</th><th>Meaning</th></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="だれ - who" class="popup">誰</span><em>でも</em></td><td>Anybody</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="なに - what" class="popup">何</span><em>でも</em></td><td>Anything</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="いつ - when" class="popup">いつ</span><em>でも</em></td><td>Anytime</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どこ - where" class="popup">どこ</span><em>でも</em></td><td>Anywhere</td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td><span title="どれ - which" class="popup">どれ</span><em>でも</em></td><td>Whichever</td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p>
（１）　<span title="この - this" class="popup">この</span><span title="しつもん - question" class="popup">質問</span>の<span title="こたえ - answer" class="popup">答え</span>は、<em><span title="だれでも - anybody" class="popup">誰でも</span></em><span title="わかる - to understand" class="popup">分かる</span>。- Anybody understands the answer of this question.
<br />（２）　<span title="ひるごはん - lunch" class="popup">昼ご飯</span>は、<em><span title="どこでも - anywhere" class="popup">どこでも</span></em><span title="いい - good" class="popup">いい</span>です。- About lunch, anywhere is good.
<br />（３）　<span title="あの - that (over there)" class="popup">あの</span><span title="ひと - person" class="popup">人</span>は、<span title="ほんとう - really" class="popup">本当</span>に<em><span title="なんでも - anything" class="popup">何でも</span></em><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べる</span>。- That person really eats anything.
</p>

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<div class="small" style="text-align:right;"><pre>This page has last been revised on 2005/9/9
Edited exception for いつも and added どれ to question words (2005/6/12)
Corrected どこも to mean everywhere (2005/6/13)
Added more detail about using 「か」 for plain form (2005/9/9)
</pre></div>

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